One Last Golden Day
by LyssaGranger
Summary: The wedding was going to be Harry's one last golden day of peace before he would head off on his next adventure. But he'll have to face Ginny and Ron and Hermione will have to face each other ... Finally.
1. A Day With Phlegm

Disclaimer : I own nothing that has anything to do with Harry Potter, thank you for your time - that is all.

A/N : Hey Guys! Guess who's back! Yeah huh that's right! Lyssa! Merlin it is GOOD to be back! Didn't know if I would be coming back after reading HBP (which **rocked**) but I guess I couldn't stay away from all of you! So now I'm here ... about two months after book 6 and I've brought a new fic with me! This one's gonna be a long one, too! But it's gonna be better than ever! I got myself a beta (I can hear the "Thank god!" Now! But yeah, it's gonna be wicked. Less spelling and grammar mistakes! She's so great too! So thanks big time to her!

And now, one last thing before I leave you to read chapter one! I just wanna say thanks to all of you guys who kept me on your alert lists or whatever! I know it's been a long while since I last said anything but now here you go! So thanks to all of my old 4WC readers! I hope you enjoyed that one! But now we're gonna move on to bigger and (hopefully) better things! So here we go! Thanks everyone and enjoy!

**One Last Golden Day**

**A Day With Phlegm**

**Hermione's PoV**

'Gin? Hurry up!' I shout from inside Ginny's tiny little closet which sits across the room from her bed.

She rolls over in her mess of comforters and groans something inaudible before pulling a sheet up above her head. I sigh and roll my eyes as I avert my attention back to the mass of clothing piled around me in various sized heaps around the closets interior. It is going to be a very long day, I can already tell. Phlegm - er, _Fleur_ wants to meet the four of us right after breakfast to discuss wedding plans.

I can hear Ginny toss again behind me, mumbling something about not wanting to talk about flowers anymore. 'Ginny, get up,' I try again without any real conviction. I can't help but not be too enthused over hurrying up to meet Fleur; she's been a nervous wreck the past few weeks. Bill had just been let out from St. Mungo's a few days ago after they did all they could for his bite. Between Fleur's crying and worrying as she spent long nights wandering from Bills room at the hospital to the attendants desk for two straight weeks, accompanied by Mrs. Weasley she has had no time to prepare for her wedding which now looms right around the corner.

Bill suggested they put the wedding off for a few months so Fleur would have enough time to plan the big wedding she had been dreaming about for years, but she had been persistent in keeping the date. Now, with only a week left before the wedding she is drowning in 'last minute plans' as she calls them. The bridesmaids' and ushers' dress robes haven't been chosen, nor have the seating plans been drawn up. Fleur doesn't even have a wedding dress picked out yet.

She has been running around the Burrow with Mrs. Weasley in tow since Bill was released from the hospital the day before last. The two women have gone into overdrive, both determined to have an entire wedding planned in one week. This, of course, has raised a lot of hell for everyone in their wake; Mr. Weasley and Bill have managed to keep their distance from anything with the word 'wedding' in it, but Ginny, Ron, Harry, and I haven't been as lucky. We have somehow been dragged into Wedding Hell from the second we stepped into the Burrow.

I pick out a cloak and a light green t-shirt from Ginny's closet and push everything that had fallen out when I had opened it back into the mound of clothes and shut the door behind me.

'Ginny! I'm going to get changed and brush my teeth, you get up now, find something to wear, and meet me downstairs as soon as you can. Fleur will be ready to go the second she walks in the door and you know how she gets when we "don't co-operate" and it's too early in the morning for another Phlegm fit!'

'Mhmm,' Ginny groans from deep within her cocoon of comforters which she has buried herself in as I wrestled her closet door.

I shake my head, though I can't help but smile as I walk across the hall to the bathroom. Ginny loves rebelling against her soon to be sister-in-law. Though she now has a new-found respect for Fleur after she proved Ginny wrong by going on with the wedding, Ginny still finds it entertaining to see how far she can push Fleur's buttons ... all in good fun, though.

On my way to the bathroom, I figure I better pop in on Harry and Ron and kick them out of bed too. Knowing them, they haven't even woken up yet.

'Rise and shine!' I say loudly, pulling back the curtains from the window, allowing rays of sun to flutter across both boys, who are still lying in their beds dead asleep.

Harry groans and squints, Ron rolls over and covers his eyes as he moans, 'Hermione! Shut the bloodly curtains!'

I walk in between both beds, placing the clothes I took from Ginny's closet on an empty chair as I go. I nudge Harry and pull the covers away from Ron's face. 'No, we have to meet Fleur right after breakfast. You two have to get up or she'll go crazy. You saw what she did yesterday when Fred pretended he wasn't coming to the wedding!' I remind them, picking up some of the stray clothing laying around their beds.

Ron groans, 'Is that today?'

I start folding some of the clothes they've left on the floor, placing them at the end of his bed. 'The sooner we go the sooner we get back,' I reason, not that it helps.

'Where eez everyone?' Fleur's shrill voice asks loudly from the kitchen. She must have just gotten back to the Burrow.

I wince and look at Ron, whose eyes are tightly shut. 'Oh wonderful ... just wonderful,' he mumbles.

'Come on, give her a break. It's her wedding she's planning; that's one the most special days for her,' I say kindly. 'Now get up, get dressed, and meet me down for breakfast when you're done.'

I pull the covers off him and he shouts, 'Mione!'

'Hurry up Harry,' I ignore Ron and walk out, picking up my robes from the chair as I do so.

I change and brush quickly because I know I'll have to pull the other three out of bed. Last night we were all brought to the Burrow which is where Harry, Ron, and I plan to stay until after the wedding in one week. After that Harry's taking us to Godric's Hollow and from there ... who knows? But we've only spent one night here, and we've still got a little over a week to go. Something tells me it'll be a very long eight days.

I hurry back to Ginny's room, which we're sharing, and, as I had suspected, she's still lying in the same spot on her bed as when I left her.

'Ginny, come on! Fleur is already here, she's going to get into Wedding Mode any minute, now so if we want to eat anything before she drags us off we'd better get moving!' I walk over to her bed and push her lightly. 'Now!'

I leave her on her bed to mull over the idea of getting up and walk over to her closet again. I pull out the first few things I can see, a black cloak, a pair of pants, and a pastel pink t-shirt and struggle with the door again. Once I get it closed I throw the outfit onto her bed and before I walk out of the room I tell her one more time, 'Hurry up!'

I rush back down the hall to Ron and Harry's room and walk in without knocking. 'Is everybody up?' I say to the lump on Harry's bed where he still lies.

He mumbles something and waves a hand at me, indicating for me to leave him alone. I sigh, 'Where's Ron?' I look at his empty bed and am very happy to see that he's gotten up.

'I'll be done in a second,' his muffled voice comes from behind the closed door which leads to the bathroom attached to his room.

'Alright, good. Harry, you hurry up. I'll meet you both downstairs,' I cast one last look at the sleeping mess that is Harry before I walk out of the room.

I take the stairs rather slowly, not in any hurry to get down to the kitchen and spend the next few minutes alone with Fleur. It seems that with exactly a week to her wedding day she can't find anything else to talk about. Last night, when Mr. Weasley had picked us up from Hogwarts just after picking Bill up from the St. Mungo's, Fleur had come along. She wanted to be their for her soon-to-be husband as he made the journey back home; she spent the whole time talking about flower arrangements. It hadn't been a very interesting conversation as it had all been one sided, Fleur talking and everyone else nodding.

I can already hear Mrs. Weasley and Fleur talking, and once I enter the kitchen I see that they have cluttered the table with pieces of parchment. I smile brightly at both of them when they look up.

'Oh, Hermione, dear, would you like something for breakfast? I could make some eggs and toast if you'd like, what would you like to eat?' Mrs. Weasley asks quickly as she gets up from the table to start fussing with the pots and pans on the counter behind her.

She's been worried about all of us since we arrived, and she keeps offering to cook every chance she gets. 'No thank you, Mrs. Weasley, I think I'll just have some toast or something,' I say kindly as I move over to the counter next to her, taking out a plate from one of the cupboards.

'Well I'll make a big plate of it then, for all four of you. Where are the boys and Ginny?' she asks as she starts cutting a loaf of bread and moving around the kitchen.

'Um, I think they're getting ready still. Sleepy,' I add. It's the truth, I've just left out the bit about not wanting to spend the day with her soon to be daughter-in-law.

'That's fine, you all had a long night yesterday.'

'Well we need to be leaving soon,' Fleur pipes up from her seat at the table, her head still bent low over the parchment. 'Per'aps I should go hurry them?'

'No, no, I'm sure they'll be down soon,' Mrs. Weasley says, never taking her eyes of the food she's preparing. 'Hermione, dear, you sit down, I'll finish this up,' she adds, taking the knife from my hand.

She hasn't let us help with anything since we've arrived. Yesterday night's dinner was prepared by her alone, and the table had been set and cleared by Mr. Weasley. Anytime we offered our help it was shot down and we were told to sit down, and let them handle it.

'Morning,' Ron mumbles as he walks into the kitchen, scratching the back of his head sleepily.

'Hey,' I say quietly as he takes a seat across from me next at the table.

'Eet is already late, we will need to eat quickly,' Fleur says impatiently.

Ron gives me a look that clearly says _he_ doesn't think it's too late. I shake my head ever so slightly so only he can see, which earns me a small grin from him.

'Here, the toast is ready. Are you sure that's all you want for breakfast? Won't you four be hungry with only a bit of bread to carry you to lunch?' Mrs. Weasley places a large plate of toast in front of Ron and me.

Ron opens his mouth to ask for more food, but I kick him under the table, and he glares at me but says, 'No thanks Mum.'

I smile and take a piece of bread. Fleur is getting really impatient; it's obvious she'd like to leave right now, but she does her best to sit and ruffle through her parchment without a word. She's trying to be less pushy about the wedding plans, though not one of us thinks it's much of an improvement.

'Molly? 'Ow about this one?' she asks, pointing to something in front of her on the parchment. Mrs. Weasley walks up behind her and examines it, both mumbling something to each other.

Harry enters the kitchen looking, if it's possible, even more tired than ever, pulling a chair out and sitting himself next to Ron. He mumbles his good mornings to everyone and stuffs some toast in his mouth before Mrs. Weasley can ask him how he's feeling. He's been trying to stay clear of her mothering. He's still caught up in what happened at the end of the year, and he just wants to be left alone.

We spend the next few moments in silence, eating and drinking and nodding whenever a wedding question is thrown our way.

Just as Fleur beings to grow more annoyed at the fact that we haven't left yet while simultaneously having a discussion about flower arrangements with Mrs. Weasley, Ginny walks down the stairs and into the kitchen wearing what I picked out for her. She looks wide awake compared to Ron and Harry, who are still half asleep in front of me.

She sits down lightly in the chair next to me. 'G'morning everyone.'

'Hey.'

'Morning.'

'Eat!'

We all pipe in. I look across the table to Harry, who hasn't said anything since he walked in. He's watching Ginny ever so subtly from over his plate of toast. His longing for her is plainly displayed in his eyes. It's very obvious they both still have feelings for each other, but they're doing their best to be just friends.

Yesterday night Ginny and I couldn't get to sleep so we started talking, and the conversation has found its way to Harry. She knows why he ended everything, and even though she doesn't agree with it she wants to respect it. So she smiles and acts like nothing has happened, trying to play the part of a friend. But whenever they look at each other you can see the lingering feelings and all of their 'what ifs'.

I look away from the both of them because I know it's a battle _they _have to fight. I look over to Ron ... the battle _I_ have to fight.

He looks up at me and smiles when he catches my eyes.

'Are we done?' Fleur asks and, without waiting for any of us to answer she gets up, waves her wand, sending all of the parchment flying into a neat pile beside her hand, and rushes to the hall. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and I following behind her grumpily.


	2. The Robes and Flowers

Disclaimer : I own nothing that has anything to do with Harry Potter, thank you for your time - that is all.

A/N : Sorry this took so long to get out there! But from now on you wont have to wait more than a week for the latest chapters! Enjoy!

And Happy New Years to everyone! I hope 2006 is even better than 2005! And I hope everyone is having a nice, safe, happy holidays!

**One Last Golden Day**

**The Robes and Flowers **

**Hermione's PoV**

'Could this get any more boring?' I hear Ron mumble under his breath, no doubt hoping only Harry could hear him. I, of course, can hear him from across the room where Ginny and I are standing in front of a big oak framed mirror.

I shoot Ron a look that clearly tells him to keep quiet or I'll have to help him stifle his comments. Neither Ginny, nor I are having very much fun. Madame Posie, a good friend of Fleur's mother, is fitting our dresses for the wedding. Ginny, who happens to be one of the bride's maids covered in a very lavender looking, puffy, fabric. I, on the other hand, have no connection to the Weasley's or Delcore's so thankfully Fleur doesn't get to pick my dress.

'She looks like a pink poodle,' Harry says, nodding in Ginny's direction, doing his very best to keep a straight face and failing miserably.

I can't help but agree with him, though. Madame Posie has positioned her on a small stage in the center of the room and has begun to poke pins into the fabric she had draped over her the very moment we'd walked into her dress robes shop. Fleur had spent the entire time with her nose in the air, walking in circles around the platform Ginny was on, stopping every few steps to tell Madame Posie what she wanted or what still needed to be fixed.

Ginny and I are doing out best to stand still while the two fly back and forth between the two of us. With such little time left before the wedding they figure it's best to work on both of our dresses at the same time; not the best idea.

'I'm hungry. Hermione wouldn't let me eat this morning; can you believe her? She knows how I am if I don't eat,' Ron grumbles under his breath, shifting in his seat on the hard oak bench beside the fitting room door. I've stopped listening to them by now.

I roll my eyes and raise my arms in the air as Madame Posie orders. I look to my right, Ginny is pushing her red hair from her face, clearly thankful for the moment of peace as Fleur begins ordering the seamstress around; this time focusing on my dress.

My mum and dad had given me enough money to buy some new dress robes for the wedding; my old ones had stopped fitting me a while ago. Fleur doesn't seem to care that I don't like her suggestions for the dress, and instead just hushes me violently whenever I mention anything.

'You going to take her?' Harry mumbles, raising an eyebrow as he looks straight ahead, watching both Ginny and I as we exchange looks of horror at the fabric they've picked out for me; a pink tool with a sort of lace trimming, as Fleur mentions with a triumphant grin.

'What?' Ron asks, distractedly as he picks at a loose thread on his pant leg.

'Hermione. Are you going to ask her to the wedding?' Harry asks in a hushed whisper. My ears perk up, all of my attention now focused on the boys sitting across the room as I stare, frozen, at Madame Posie's hands as they weave the needle through the lace.

I can feel Ginny's eyes on me, boring into the side of my face with a smirk plastered across her's. I do my best not to blush as I wait for Ron's answer.

He coughs and shifts in his seat again, 'she's already going to the wedding, Harry. We weren't planning on asking her to stay up in Ginny's room while we're in the garden celebrating,' he stutters quietly, looking down at the floor.

'I meant-' Harry begins before Fleur, much to my displeasure, cuts him off.

'Yes! Zis eez perfect! Thank you, Madame Posie, thank you,' she exclaims, gripping the fabric of my dress in her hand.

I look down at her from the pedestal, thrown off by her completely out of the blue happiness. I quickly look back up at Ron and Harry, who are both watching us.

Ron catches my eye and looks away, giving his attention back to the thread on his pant leg. I shake my head and look back down at Fleur and Madame Posie, glaring daggers at the both of them as they grin and nod at each other.

The rest of the morning was spent much the same as it had started of as. Ginny and I stood for another couple of hours on the pedestal while the two wedding crazed women flew back and forth between the both of us, gabbing pins into the disgustingly colored fabric, sewing on lace, and adding puff to Ginny's sleeves. The boy sat, just like they had been, shifting in their seats, trying to get comfortable and whispering conversation between them.

Unfortunately their mumbles hold nothing of any interest after Fleur had interrupted them. The rest of the morning's conversation is only aimed at the current Quidditch scores and more silence than could be accounted for.

Finally when we have finished Fleur hands Madame Posie a bag of Galleons and ushers us out of her shop, leaving the dresses with the seamstress after making her promise to finish them first, before any other dress robes that have been ordered.

'Alright, now ve must go to the flower shop. It is just over 'ere,' Fleur says breathlessly as she walks toward a small shop which seems too small to fit all of the flowers inside because most of them are sitting in baskets outside of the shop door.

'Erm, Fleur? How about you go ahead in there and look at the flowers; we'll stay behind, maybe head over there to that cafe for some lunch? You can meet us back here,' Ginny suggests, doing her best to keep from whining as she points to the little restaurant across the street.

Fleur sighs, annoyed that we aren't being of any more help, then waves her hand defeated and turns back to the flower shop. Ginny turns to face us with a grin.

'Thank Merlin, I could barely keep from strangling her with that lace she used for your dress robes, Hermione,' she says, pulling a face at the thought of what we had to wear to the wedding.

'Let's go, I'm starving,' Ron says, grinning happily as he and Harry begin crossing the road to the restaurant.

'We heard,' Ginny smirks, mumbling loud enough for the both of them to hear as we follow them.

Ron blushes a bit and Harry's expression matches Ginny's perfectly. I look away, taking in the scenery as I do my best to ignore their teasing.

We are in Hogsmeade, though we'd never gone this far into the town. It seemed a lot smaller than the part we'd grown custom to visiting. Everything was much tinier, the shops, the roads, the restaurants. Just down the street is a store that looks as though it has been their forever, nearly abandon save for an old woman who is beating a rug on the front lawn, coughing uncontrollably as the dusty drifted past her. Across the road is the cafe which we're heading towards. It's small, with a patio out front, the table's small and round with large umbrellas floating above each one.

Harry tells the waiter we'd like a seat for four outside and the wizard leads us to one of the tables on the patio. We sit, Ginny and I across from Ron and Harry, as the waiter walks off, leaving us to get settled before ordering, the menu's appearing in front of us.

'So? I can't wait to see you two in those dresses at the wedding, Ginny I'm sure you'll look like the most beautiful poodle there,' Harry smiles pleasantly at her from above his menu which he doesn't take his eyes off of.

'Oh, well thank you, Harry, some time's you're just too kind,' she smiles back, kicking him under the table. Shrugging sweetly when he looks up at her, doing his best to keep a straight face.

'I wouldn't be so cocky, Harry,' Ron says, focusing fully on the wide selection of food printed on the menu, nearly drooling as his eyes run down the lists, 'you'll be meeting the family - all of them. I don't think Fred and George will be able to keep the knowledge of you and Ginny a secret for too long.'

Harry looks down at his menu again, it's obvious he doesn't know what to say to that. Ron is right, by the time Mrs. Weasley had welcomed all of the guests before the wedding began, Fred and George would have already mentioned that Harry Potter was there, and that he had nearly become a brother-in-law; though there might have been hope yet.

Every since he had arrived they had acted as though nothing had happened, as if they were just two good friends spending the summer together like always. They hadn't seemed to notice the longing looks that took over the other's faces whenever they weren't looking, though we had all seemed to catch a few of those through out the past evening.

Ginny seems determined not to break the friendly air between her and Harry though, because she manages to tear her eyes away from his face, the expression that is so obviously plastered all over it, and says with a teasing smile, 'well, Ron, I'm sure the twins wont forget to add that the famous Hermione Granger is in their presences, either. I mean, after all, you manage to mention her whenever we're visiting their house in the summers, don't you?'

Ron blushes a furious red but says nothing. I do my best to keep my eyes on the menu, though, because I know if I look up at him I'll only want to know what he's said about me.

'Alright, Ginny I think we won that one, now let's order,' Harry says triumphantly as she giggles in agreement, no longer embarrassed by the mention of their past relationship.

When the waiter comes back I've decided on just some Pumpkin Juice and a slice of pie, unlike Ron and Harry, I'm not very hungry. Ginny decides on a salad and the boys order nearly everything on the menu. The waiter looks horrified when he comes to take our orders; Ginny and I just shrug apologetically before he leaves our table again.

'I don't know how we're going to make it through this wedding alive, if Fleur drags me into one more pink shop I'm going to snap. I never thought being her maid of honor would be so much like a chore,' Ginny sighs, taking a gulp of the water that appears in front of her.

'Why didn't she ask Gabrielle to be her maid of honor? I mean, wouldn't she rather have her sister there instead of her soon to be sister-in-law?' Harry asks, stretching out in his chair, watching Ginny with a pleasant smile.

She rolls her eyes and rests her head in her hands, 'that's what I was hoping for, but apparently her sister can't come down here until the night before the wedding and Fleur wanted to have her maid of honor here to help her plan the whole thing.'

'I'm just happy Bill asked Charlie to be his best man, the only thing I have to do, according to Mum, is be there for the wedding,' Ron says happily.

'Then what are you doing here?' Harry asks, confused by this simple bit of logic. I smile and take a sip of water, as the day passes the sun seems to be getting more and more hot.

'It's pretty obvious, isn't Harry? I had to come, and I dragged Hermione with me, and why would Ron want to spend the day at the Burrow when she's not around to argue with?' Ginny smirks, leaning back in her seat comfortably.

'Then what does that say about Harry? Why did he come? Was it because he didn't want to spend time without you at the Burrow?' I shoot back quickly. They seem to have made it a game, embarrassing Ron and I, just to see our reactions.

Ron grins at me from across the table as they cough and busy themselves with their glasses. Finally the waiter comes to rescue them, though, and Ron and Harry inhale their food while Ginny and I do our best to seem invisible as the waiter watches them from cafe window behind us.

Once Ginny and I have gotten halfway through our light lunches Fleur calls out from across the street, 'everyone, come 'ere quickly. Put zat food down! Come now, I 'ave just remembered something.'

Reluctantly we scrap our chairs across the ground and Harry drops a few Galleons onto the table top as we all hurry back across the street to Fleur, who looks as though she's about to kill us if we don't walk any faster.

'I need to go back to zee Burrow, Molly 'az just sent me an owl; zee caterers have arrived, I have to go plan zee meals with them. Ginny, come,' she motions towards her, ''ere is my list, zee four of you can finish for me. I will see you all back home, thank you!'

And with that she disappears, leaving the four us of standing in the middle of the street. We are in Hogsmeade - alone. Freedom seems to catch us and pull us away as we stand their, grinning madly at each other.


End file.
